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Publisher's Summary

Susie Moran is a success. She has founded and run her own highly profitable company, and now her three daughters are all involved in the business. Rooted in the traditions of the Stoke-on-Trent potteries, and producing charming, useable objects of distinctive design, Susie is justly proud of her family and her achievement – and has no intention of letting it change.

But what of the men in the family? Susie’s husband, a musician and artist, has always seemed happy to take a back seat. One of her sons-in-law has few ambitions outside the home. Another daughter, though, has brought her husband into the company - and they want to change things, much to Susie’s distress.

And then, into the mix arrives Susie’s father, an ageing hippy who abandoned Susie as a baby. Now he’s alone, and wants to build bridges, although Susie’s daughters are outraged at the idea. Can the needs of a family business override the needs of the family itself? In wanting to preserve her business, will Susie lose something much more precious?

I usually love Joanna Trollope's family sagas but after listening to this one I'm not sure that I'll bother in future. This was held together by Julia Franklin's narration which is always listenable. However, the storyline was pretty flimsy and I found the characters selfish and unsympathetic.

the story didn''t live up to the synopsis.this is the first Joanna Trollope book I have listened to and as none of the other books synopsis appeal I think it will probably be the lasttI didn't like the format it was written in. in the beginning all the family members were introduced and the story got under way. then out of the bluethe story flitted between the characters, some only being a sentence, then back to the story again a number of times. I found it jarring.personally I think it would have been a lot better if it had been written in the first person i.e., from susie's point of view. it would have had more of an impact towards the end.Julia franklin performed the book well.

If you’ve listened to books by Joanna Trollope before, how does this one compare?

Not one of her better books. Joanna Trollope has an extraordinary ability to explore complex characters and relationships. She does attempt to do so in this book but something is missing and it feels contrived. Also there was not enough background to the potteries which presented as someone who researched it for a story rather than knowing it. On the whole it was very disappointing.